contemplations and ruminations

I had to tell the company that I've been training with this week that I didn't think I could continue with them. I was told by the staffing agency I went through that this week would be the only week that I'd have to miss class/work evenings. Turns out that next week they also needed me to come in for the three evening shifts again. I told them that I couldn't miss another class and they were willing to work with that but as I thought about it more and more, I realized that I was losing 7 hours out of my day to get paid for 3 hours of training. It just wasn't making any sense. Not to mention the commute required me to transfer three times, which makes studying along the way kind of difficult unless I want to miss one of my connections, so I was falling behind in my schoolwork. I told them everything that I was feeling, I was honest and up front with them. I also told them that I'd still work my shift tomorrow since I'd already committed to that but they said it was okay and they understood. I was relieved but I felt bad. You see, everyone that was in my training class has now quit except for one person. I know that I have to make school my priority and I knew that I was not comfortable with the lack of transit service where they're located (I was told there was a 24 hour bus that went right to the company - there isn't, in fact, the bus that goes right to the company doesn't run at all on weekends, evenings or holidays which means a 15 minute walk to the nearest stop) but I still feel bad for letting them down. It's unfortunate in a way because I liked a lot of the companies that they worked with and enjoyed the other employees that I'd met but the 4 hours in commuting along with the fact that I wasn't going to get enough hours to pay the bills just made me realize that it wasn't worth it. Could I have stuck with it a bit longer? Probably but it would have seriously affected my schoolwork and already has. Besides, when I explained my situation and my feelings to them, they pretty much felt that it was also best if I just left now since that way they aren't spending time and money training someone who isn't going to be around for very long (they didn't say that of course but it makes sense). So I am once again jobless but hopefully not for long. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow.

I'm sorry this job didn't work out that well for you while you're waiting for the other one to come through. I know all about commutes since my time at Bell saw 3 transfers and travel times of 1.5 hours each direction. I did that for 2 years and man did it eat up my time. Even when you work an 8+ hour shift it still makes it hard to accept, because then your day becomes nearly a 12 hour day. So I can definitely understand it when its only 3 hours of training!It is definitely better to tell their sooner rather than later so they can make their own plans. Sucks for them that everyone seems to be having similar issues and dropping out of the training though. Maybe it will teach them something about their system.

I'm kind of sorry it didn't work out either. I wanted to be up front with them about how I was feeling, despite the fact that everyone else was gone. Bottom line is that I have to do what's best for me. I know that part of the problem came from the staffing agency some of us went through but otherwise the shifts they wanted us for were pretty brutal too, especially for people who commute on Sunday since the subway doesn't start until 9:00 am and they wanted us there for 7:30 am.